Important Health Care Bills

SB 1414 would establish the Healthy California Program, which would provide health care coverage to all citizens and legal immigrants in California. This would be done by building on the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Programs, as well as requiring all employers to provide health care coverage or pay a fee to the state.

SB 1758 would require that HMOs that receive rebates from pharmaceutical firms to put their drugs on the HMOs’ formularies, must provide rebates to consumers and employers who shell-out for copays or coinsurance for drugs. If the HMOs are getting breaks from the drug firms, consumers should be sharing in those breaks.